What I find reprehensible about this is that while he believes he'll never repay WB, it looks to me as though he could be at least a hell of a lot closer to $0.

What I find reprehensible about this is that while he believes he'll never repay WB, it looks to me as though he could be at least a hell of a lot closer to $0. So why should it be OK for WB to say keeping him further from $0 is OK? You are not being a jerk by trying to zero out your balance. If what you said about your other albums is correct, you could be at $250K currently rather than the $400K. That means reaching "recouped" (whatever that means in this insane contract you're bound to) could be possible in 10-15 years.